An autorack railcar (also referred to as an auto carrier or car transporter) is a railcar for transporting automobiles and light trucks. For example, an autorack railcar may transport vehicles from a manufacturing facility to a distributorship, or transport vehicles for passengers of a passenger train service.
Existing autorack railcars may be configured with one deck (Uni-level), two decks (Bi-level), or three decks (Tri-level). Some existing autorack railcars are convertible from two decks to three decks or from three decks to two decks. Conversions may be performed to accommodate different sized vehicles, such as taller vehicles that may not fit on a Tri-level autorack railcar.
To load an autorack railcar, a skilled driver drives the vehicle up a ramp and onto one of the decks. The driver or another crew member then secures the vehicle to the deck with tie down straps, chains, etc. The process is reversed to unload the autorack railcar.
Autorack railcars may include cushioning strips along their interior walls. The cushioning strips may prevent parts of the vehicles, such as vehicle doors, from contacting the interior walls of the autorack railcar as an operator loads or unloads the vehicles. The cushioning strips may be referred to as door edge guards because they protect the edges of the vehicle doors.